


Keeping Company with a Suitor

by velvet_sometimes



Series: Keeping Company [2]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Comedy of Errors, Courtship, F/M, Humor, Kouga is Charming, Romance, Tricksters, Wolf Pack, Wolves, everything is not as it seems
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-04-27
Updated: 2012-04-27
Packaged: 2017-11-04 09:39:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/392394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velvet_sometimes/pseuds/velvet_sometimes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to ‘Keeping Company with a Stranger’. After Kouga's 'careful and thorough' planning in convincing Kagome to date him, the two are now fumbling through their different definitions of what it means to court someone, considering their limited understanding of the other's culture. Especially when Kouga’s only basis of reference being Romantic Comedies and his Youkai instincts... Should be simple enough, right?</p><p>Nominated in The Feudal Association Awards for Best Comedy - October 2014</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Extracurricular**

The morning after her… enlightening conversation with one pompous, persistent wolf, Kagome wasted no time in making her way to the university; determined to avoid him and his attempts at 'courting' her at any cost. Even if that meant reverting back to the childish tactic of complete and utter avoidance.

She was doing rather well too, she thought. She'd seen neither hide nor hair of Kouga all morning and assumed he had lost her trail once she'd caught the train. There were no fellow students exclaiming about a Youki being on campus, nor had there been news of anyone looking for her, so really Kagome considered herself safe.

She never suspected he'd take a sneakier approach at worming his way into her life.

The panicked voice of one of the universities office workers crackled over the loudspeaker. "Kagome Higurashi room A-4, Kagome Higurashi room A-4. Please report to the main office, your dog has followed you onto campus. Please come and retrieve it, it's scaring the students. "

Kagome sat there dumbfounded for a minute, oblivious to the curious stares of her classmates, only reacting once someone nudged her. "Go take your dog home; I'll copy my notes for you."

"But… I don't have a dog." She replied absently as she rose to her feet, stuffing her things into her bag and rushing out of the classroom toward the main hall.

With every step she took toward her destination, Kagome grew more and more suspicious. Youki were rare, known throughout the world and accepted as citizens like any human was, but rare. Not many people outside of their close personnel or that worked with them directly –like a shine maiden- knew that most full Youki could change their form.

Could change their form into that of an animal.

She was nearly fuming by the time she finally made it to the main hall, the only words of greeting escaping her mouth upon entering being: "Where is he?"

A skittish woman from the front desk jumped up without a word, pointing out the glass side door to where a giant, brown 'dog' was sitting. Tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth and tail wagging when he spotted her.

Only the dog wasn't a dog. It was a wolf. And it was wearing a shiny new leather collar with her name and address emblazoned upon the tags.

"I should have known you'd find me."

He woofed softly in reply, his tail beginning to wag harder when she pushed the door open to walk toward him, jumping up onto his hind legs to lick her face.

She grunted when his weight settled onto her shoulders, trying to push him off of her. "Down. _Down_. You and I are going to have a _long_ talk about this once you're in a human form mister."

He merely moved to circle around her, rubbing up against her legs like a cat would before nudging her with his head to begin walking.

"Fine." She muttered angrily, allowing him to come up beside her, head brushing her hips as he walked. Her hand curled around the thick leather of the collar to at least give the illusion she had control over the 'animal'. "Where are you taking me anyway?" she demanded, and he merely looked back at her with his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth.

She could have sworn he was grinning; if a canine's mouth was indeed capable of such.

It didn't take long for them to reach their destination. "The park. Did you really pull me out of classes to come to the _park_?"

He gave no acknowledgement of her words, just continuing down the path a ways before veering off into the trees.

"I didn't sign up for a hiking trip Kouga." She grumbled as she climbed over a fallen log, trying to keep up with the streamlined canine who cut though the underbrush with the barest of ease.

He seemed to be aware of her difficulty though, pausing every couple of steps to allow her to catch up and regain her breath.

And as much as she was loathe to admit it, Kagome was enjoying playing hooky with him. Even if she was going to have to scrub the grass stains out of her uniform once she finally made it home.

"Are we almost there yet? My feet are starting to hurt; school loafers aren't made for trekking through the woods."

He merely woofed in reply, bounding out of her grasp to jump into an open grassy area between some trees, turning to crouch down on his front paws, hind end swaying.

She took at step back at his playful look. "Oh no you don't. This is my good uniform. If you pounce on me, I swear, I. Will. _Hit_. You."

Her warning fell on deaf ears, because in the next moment she was face first on the ground, and it wasn't Kouga who'd pounced on her.

She rolled to her back to see a large group of other 'dogs' standing around her, obvious looks of amusement on their faces. "Really Kouga? Taking me to meet the family on the first date? I thought I was at least going to get a backseat grope before we got to this stage."

"And here I thought I was being a gentleman by postponing that step. Though if it's what you really want, I'd be _more_ than happy to oblige you. " When she rolled her eyes back to look at where he was last sitting, she found a now very _human_ Kouga towering over her, clothed in nothing but a pair of tight fitting blue jeans and the shiny collar that now hung rather loosely around his neck, hands on his hips as he smirked down at her.

"They needed to memorize your scent; figured this was the best way, and in case you were wondering, this was the only time everyone was available… besides at about 1am that is. I knew you would be more amenable to missing classes than sleep." He offered offhandedly when she glared up at him.

She snorted in reply, pushing herself up onto her elbows, while the pack sniffed at her, wet noses tickling her arms and legs. Ruffling her hair and making her squeal when the pressed coldly into her skin. "I guess this would be quite a bit more awkward if they were in human form." She relented as he bent down to grab her under the arms and lift her to her feet. She used that moment to push away a furry head that has strayed too close to her crotch. "Why exactly do they need to know what I smell like anyway?"

"Its customary to learn the scent of all new pack members." When she looked up at him with one brow cocked, he shrugged, not releasing his hold on her. "Just in case."

"In case of _what_? I've managed pretty fine on my own for far."

He pulled her back slightly, fitting her tightly to his bared chest, his nose falling into the crook of her neck where he then took a few deep sniffs of his own. She could feel the cold metal tags pressing into the back of her neck, and fought not to shiver. "You get lost, need help. Stuff like that."

"Hey, hey. Personal bubble." She groused. "And I never accepted you, you know. You're taking a lot of liberties here, mister."

"Kouga." He corrected. "And I know, but you will."

"Arrogant aren't we?" Kagome snarked, breaking his hold on her and putting distance between them, turning to cross her arms over her chest and glare at him.

He merely leaned forward, bending down so that they where face to face, hands back in their place on his hips and his ever present smirk returning. "It's not arrogance when I'm stating truths."

Her scathing reply was cut off when another cold nose snuck up the back of her skirt, making her squeal and jump, spinning around to flick the offending animal on the nose and it let out a puff of laughter in return, shaking off the reprimand.

Kouga turned to the offending wolf and snapped at him, letting out a snarl that sounded way too convincing to have come from a human-shaped throat. The only real intelligible word that came out of his mouth when he reached down to grab the animal by the scruff of its neck and shake it was ' _Mine_ '.

She poked him in the chest at that, and he looked back up at her owlishly, completely surprised at her apparent hostility. "Hey! Were as I don't like having wet wolf noses under my skirt, you don't have to be mean to him."

He blinked in reply, mouth moving but no sound coming out before he finally regained his composer enough to speak, sounding infinitely patient as he explained wolf behavior to her. "Mean? An alpha has to discipline his pack and show dominance if he wants to remain as such. That's how a wolf pack works. As for inappropriately placed noses, he was telling me that my scent is on you, but not… um… _on_ you. So you were technically still fair game."

Kagome's cheeks grew redder with every word, more so when he stumbled in his explanation, obviously trying to phrase it in a way that wouldn't offend her sensibilities but only served to make her more embarrassed. She jumped away from them when Kouga's meaning finally clicked. "Well then." She started awkwardly, brushing her hands over her skirt as she tried to push down the embarrassment. Kouga shot her a sympathetic smile and she ignored it. "Why'd we have to come all the way out here to begin with?"

"Pack business is private." He shrugged. "Besides, it would draw a lot of attention if a pack of 20 wolves met up right in the middle of the park. I alone could pass for a dog as long as I had a collar on, but even the stupidest of humans would have caught on then."

"Please don't tell me you're going to keep that thing." She deadpanned, eyes zeroing in on the offending piece of leather.

He looked down to it, playing with the tags. "I sort of like it. Most of the pack has collars really, theirs just lead back to the main house in case they get picked up in wolf form. And the idea of you having to pick me up from the pound at 2am makes me smile."

"You can't be serious."

"As serious as I can be." And his tone reflected it. She wasn't sure why she felt like they were suddenly talking about something else, but the meaningful look in his eye told her he was desperately wanting her to catch onto something she was missing. And she was helpless to know what.

"Er…" she fumbled, looking back at him hesitantly and completely unsure.

He let out a sigh before giving her a lopsided smile, apparently understanding that she was clueless and taking pity on her. "Why don't we get lunch? Ginta's truck isn't far and he packed enough food to feed all of us."

"Wait a minute," She leveled him with her gaze again. "If he came here as a human why couldn't you have?"

He rubbed a hand though his hair awkwardly, halfway through the motion deciding to pull it back into a ponytail that was still long enough to brush the waist of his blue jeans. "Would you really have came with me had I showed up as a man at your school?" at her guilty look he continued. "I didn't think so. Call it underhanded, but it got you out here didn't it? Now come on; wouldn't want to put our picnic to waste."

He gestured for her to follow him though the underbrush and she did, shaking her head in exasperation. She wasn't sure why he was so persistent, but she would be lying if she said she didn't find it flattering. If not a bit confusing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Colors**

Kagome wasn't sure what she'd been expecting when Kouga had announced at the end of their picnic that they had plans that weekend. Specificity Saturday at twilight, and that the dress code was strictly traditional.

But she was decidedly _not_ expecting for him to show up at the shine door in a set of hakama and gi, a sword strapped to his waist and not even attempting to hide his demonic heritage.

His eyes widened at the image of her in her furisode, brows rising to his hairline when he finally took notice of the pattern. "Quite the since of humor you have." Clawed hands came forward to trace the edge of her sleeve, gazing curiously down at the image of two great Oni locked in a ferocious battle emblazoned upon the fabric. "And most appropriate, I guess, given where we're going."

She shot him a wary look at that proclamation, nervously playing with the hem of her sleeves. "And where _are_ we going?"

A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth when he offered her his hand, turning slightly to lead her out into the rapidly growing darkness. "You'll see."

She snorted in reply, but followed him out the door none the less. "Maybe I'm not sure I want to go with you Mr. Secretive."

He laughed at that, walking in step with her down the shrine path. "If you didn't want to go you wouldn't have dressed up so prettily. I'm flattered, by the way, that you went though such effort on my behalf."

"I was _trying_ to be a smart-ass."

"No you weren't." he told her with all the infuriating self confidence she'd come to expect from him, causing her to glare sharply in his direction and refuse to continue walking down the steps, forcing him to pause a few below and turn back to face her. And from beneath the collar of his Gi she could see another, gleaming with those infuriating tags. Even now he insisted on wearing them, just to piss her off apparently.

"Oh and if I wasn't then what _was_ I trying to say? Since you seem to know better than me."

"You were trying to tell me that you aren't going to be an easy catch. And believe me when I say I'm going to enjoy the chase." he offered her his hand again, continuing to speak when she made no move to accept it. "I'm not going to try to take the wildness out of you, you skittish little thing. Blind obedience in a mate is something I've never craved. I'm actually rather hopeful that you'll be as difficult in everything you do, Kagome; the fight is going to make it all the sweeter."

After a bushing, stuttering moment she continued down the steps on her own, shrugging past his proffered hand and making him chuckle as he followed her.

"There's a car waiting around the corner waiting to take us to our destination." He offered idly when he noticed the falter in her steps; an obvious sign that though she wanted to escape him, she didn't know where they were going, and when she made a b-line for the vehicle parked against the curb, and he fought to hide his amusement.

"Backseat, Kagome." He called out to her from a few steps above. "Driver knows where we're going."

"So everyone but me then." she shot back as she slipped inside, slamming the door on the image of his face, only for him to reappear again moments later from the other side.

"Don't be like that, its a surprise." he commented as he waved the to the driver and the engine roared to life, pulling them away from the curb and to who knows where.

"You know, I'd be more worried about being with you unchaperoned if I didn't know I could purify you in an instant."She commented, focusing on scraping the dirt from under her fingertips rather than looking at him.

Next thing she knew, a clawed finger had wormed its way under her collar and an electric chill shot though her, making her jump back in surprise. It didn't hurt precisely, but more tingled. Like a tickle with nails.

"What the _hell_ was that?"

When he merely snickered instead of replying, she brought the hand that had been fastened to her neck to his bared wrist, channeling her Rieki as much as she could when she brought the appendage down onto his skin.

His entire arm spasmed, and fur spouted from the area, causing him to yelp and yank his arm back, cradling it protectively against his chest.

"Play with fire." she singsonged, and Kouga merely growled in reply, disgruntlement playing across his features.

"Remind me that you like your foreplay rough before we start playing around next time, would you."

"What, am I too much for you to handle?" she quipped in reply.

His ever present leer returned when he realized she was flirting in return, and he leaned forward until they were face to face, her pressed into the door of the car. "Won't know until I try darling."

Before she could form any sort of remark, a voice floated out of the front seat as they slowly rolled to a stop. "We've arrived, boss."

He straightened, smirk fading into a look of seriousness. "Thank you."

The moment she felt the brakes lock, Kagome jumped from her seat, the door flying closed on Kouga's surprised face once again.

"I'll not push you, darling, so stop acting like a cornered rabbit." he sighed as he stepped out of the car, waving it to drive away.

She didn't notice its departure though, as she was too entranced by the vision before here. "Where are we?"

"I thought most humans took there intended mates somewhere public on a first outing." he told her curiously. "Was I wrong?"

"No but... Usually it's to like an amusement park or a carnival. Not someplace like... this. What _is_ this?"

"It's a Festival." he replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What does it look like?"

She paused as she took it all in. It looked like any other midsummer festival she'd helped to present at the shrine: Hundreds of stands with toys and games wreathed in bright paper lanterns as kimono clad people laughed and danced though the pathways.

But it was not at the same time. It was so much more. All around her she could feel the thrum of power from behind Oni masks, and resonating from children that weaved between them. It rolled over her in waves of Youki that weren't even deliberate attacks, as Kouga's earlier touch had been; it just was.

"I've never been to a Youki festival Kouga; humans are strictly forbidden. You know that. I can't be here; I could get _arrested_ for this."

He was shaking his head before she'd even finished speaking. "You're here on my personal invitation as my intended, no one with question your presence priestess."

Kagome turned to look at him then, curiosity burning in her gaze. "I know you own a construction company now, but you've lived for centuries; who are you really Kouga? Because even with an escort, no human is allowed to an event like this."

"That's a story for another day." he told her softly, grabbing her hand to place it in the crook of his elbow. "For now lets just enjoy the night. I'll explain everything though, I promise."

And with that he was leading her though the throngs of people who parted and bowed when they passed. Masked faces mixed with those of excitement and awe at the image they made.

A child tugged on mothers sleeves and pointed toward them, whispering something that sounded like 'Ookami-Heika' but they where swept away in the crowd before she could be sure.

After the initial shock of their appearance wore off, the people closed in on them once again, and they were suddenly immersed in life. The colors and sounds and smells of the festival overtaking them, and for a time, Kagome almost forgot just where she was in her joy.

Almost forgot that she was on the arm of a secretive wolf who'd gotten her access to a world she was never supposed to see. A world that was eerily similar to her own, with just the barest edge of the other worldly to set it apart.

Faces faded at the edges, and she was unsure if it was mask or flesh she was staring at. Will-o-Wisp's floated along overhead, lighting the lanterns that lit up the inky darkness, and young women flitted by them with paws instead of wooden sandals, and tails that came swishing from under their Obi.

"I played this game as a girl. I never could win either; the paper would always break at the last second." She told him, her words coming out barely more than a breathy whisper. And he leaned in close as he handed her the prize he'd won, having gone though a couple of paper nets in the process of trying to capture a goldfish.

"I'm glad my token pleases you." his lips brushed her cheek as he spoke, and she could feel the smile that curled up his lips, and the brush of his fangs with every word. "Though I did have to cheat a little bit; I used a bit of Youki to hold the paper to the stick."

His admission pulled a reluctant laugh from her, her expression softening with amusement. "I never though of trying that. It's ingenious. Cheating, but ingenious."

His arm slung itself around her shoulders in a good-natured fashion, his smile boyish with pride, infectious in its childish joy; letting her put away her curiosity of his history and her unease of his being if only for a few moments. "Come on, I'll get us some Dango and then we can go watch the matches."

"Matches?" she asked with interest, allowing him to tow her along the pathway toward the food vendors.

"Sparing Matches." He clarified. "It's traditional for Youki at the midsummer festival to have mock battles as tribute to the old days when we were wandering warlords."

Kagome blinked for a moment, looking up at him. "That was a lot of 'W' words in a row. A plus for alliteration."

He laughed in shocked reply, looking down at her with amusement in his eyes. "That's not even prolific Kagome, I thought your standards were much higher than that. I can do much better."

"Oh can you?" she challenged, waiting patiently beside him while he paid a vaguely reptilian looking man for their snacks.

He nodded in affirmative, popping one of the sweet dumplings in his mouth and moving to talk around it as he chewed, making her think him even more boyish. "I'll have you know I was a bit of a waxing poetic in my youth."

"Prove it."

He hummed in thought for a moment, swallowing his treat and continuing to lead her toward the stages before speaking again. "'When we were wandering warlords wearing white wimples whilst wanting wanton women.' Much better I would think."

Kagome gaped at him for a moment before bursting out in surprised peals of laughter. "Oh my lord. The image in you in a nun's Wimple is too funny."

He gave her a sheepish smile as he led her to a seat close to the edge of the stage where the sparring matches would take place. "Never said I was any good at it, but that a string of five was measly compared to what I could come up with."

She patted his arm lightly, delicately nibbling at one of the Dango. "Well it was witty if nothing else. I don't think I could have come up with a twelve string."

"'W' is a hard one." he conceded, seating himself beside her. "But I'm sure you could come up with an impressive enough string with a more applicable letter."

"Another time maybe, it looks like its starting." She told him, excitement lacing her tone in spite of her best efforts to suppress it.

Kouga arranged himself in a more comfortable position on the large cushion they shared, lounging partly behind her, a small plate of sweet snacks and juice seated between them.

Kagome was delighted with the image before her, the reenactment had such an edge of danger, as if it was almost real that she couldn't seem to look away. But it was less the men, and more their warring Youki that she was watching. The ebb and flow as it battered against them; much more physical a hit than that of their swords clashing while being nothing more than a whisper of shadow to the naked eye. A barely there movement in the darkness that surrounded them, only slightly more colored than the exaggerated shadows cast by fox-fire lanterns.

He had slid closer to her at some point during the performance, his chin resting on the curve of her shoulder and his upturned knee pressed slightly into her far side, a hand laying atop it. "They are reenacting an age old battle. The man in the fur is The King of the Wolves, battling against an immortal guardian for the Goraishi; an ancient weapon which could harness the power of lightning, so that he might avenge his fallen pack."

"I hear you whispering over there Kouga-Sama." A female voice called from the other side of the stage, the actors pausing in their demonstration to face them, awe in their eyes rather than annoyance at the interruption of their performance. "Why don't you come and show these pups how it's done? You _would_ know the story better than any other I would think."

Kagome turned slightly to face her companion, curiosity evident at the amusement in the woman's tone, the knowing that seemed to be of some sort of open secret she wasn't privy too.

"Come on now Ayame, let the boys act; they seem to be doing fine to me. I'm here merely to enjoy the festival, not as some sort of public appearance, I promise you." Came Kouga's sullen reply from over her shoulder, and she was suddenly uncomfortable being under the scrutiny of all of their eyes, even if it was only by association.

"But it's been so long since you've bothered to show up at any sort of important event, it hurts my feelings when you ignore us so. You know it would be quite a feather in these pup's caps to have preformed with the accompaniment of _The Ookami- Heika_ for guidance."

There was something about the woman's tone when she spoke the title that set Kagome on edge, and she could feel the male at her back tense slightly at the sound of it, before relaxing into a languid movement that brought him to his feet. A rolling of muscles that made him look all the more like a predator.

"Alright." he relented, toeing off his sandals and stepping onto the slightly raised platform. "But I'll be seeing _you_ soon, of that you can be sure." And the threatening promise in his words chilled her.

His movements though, they where pure grace, unclouded by hate or rage or anger or annoyance. They just were. There was a calmness about him, a serene familiarity that overtook his person as he fell into the practiced steps of a warrior, and Kagome had no doubts that he was once one of the wandering warlords he had so easily joked of. So old and so young in so many ways that it made her head spin, and really brought home the fact that she didn't know this man.

He might have claimed her as a mate, ulterior motives aside, and proven himself to be a particularly funny, witty man, with little knowledge of human culture, but he was still a mystery to her. She knew his name. She knew his own people bowed in awe when he passed and called him the Ookami-Heika. She knew that for whatever reason, he wanted her. But that was all she knew, and it was not nearly enough.

Kouga was all layers of color and emotion, and she was sure she'd merely scratched the surface of his personality; there was so much of him she hadn't seen yet.

The gruff construction worker she'd met that day in the park was a vibrant red; all passion and power.

The sly wolf who'd tricked her into accepting his suit was most definitely a bright lime green; so smugly proud and self confidant that she couldn't help but be amazed at his ego.

The witty clown who did everything in his power to make her laugh was no doubt yellows; happiness and childish joy mingling to create an intoxicating blend of just... fun.

And the ancient Youki who had collared himself with her name was Black; reverberating with the mystery and wisdom of age.

He was Blackness right now as he moved across the stage, restrained somehow even though he held all the fluidity of a real warrior. And when it was over, and those sapphire eye focused on her, they where all heat. Red and Black and some other color she had no name for yet.

When Kouga stepped down from the platform and offered a hand to help her to her feet, she didn't hesitate this time, allowing him to feel as if he had really won his prize, and was rewarded with his look triumphant. "There's going to be dancing, I think it would be fun. Humans do take their intended for dancing don't they?"

"Yes," and she couldn't help the laughter that escaped. "We take our dates dancing too."

They walked in silence though the stands for a time, neither knowing what to say to the other after Ayame's interruption had unveiled just how much Kagome didn't know about him. "I guess I owe you an explanation."

"It would be nice, since apparently I don't know anything about you at all."

He cringed slightly. "I was hoping to go about this like normal people do, with the whole 'get to know you stage' coming naturally. I was going to tell you in time, instead of just laying it all on you so soon."

Kagome sighed. "And where as that's a lovely gesture, now that 'I' know that everyone but me knows who you really are, its pretty much time to just come clean."

Kouga moved to rake a hand though his hair, forgetting that he had pulled it back into a tight ponytail, and getting his fingers caught in the knot, making him growl in annoyance. "Well it's not like its some huge secret. I was a bit pissed they chose that story to tell, even though I know they where trying to help me impress you."

Kagome blinked languidly for a moment, looking up at him. "Wait, back up. _What_?"

He fixed her with his gaze, and the image of the gruff young man she'd come to know fell. He wasn't just Kouga anymore. She knew he was the leader of the wolf tribe, but she hadn't realized until that moment that, that he held the title for a reason. "Put the pieces together yourself Kagome, you're a smart woman."

A story about the Wolf King.

"Wait, you're him?" she gestured to the stage behind them for emphasis. " _That_ him? I thought everyone was looking at us funny because I was a human, I didn't even consider it was because you were..."

"Was what?" And his words where more of a snarling than speech. "Yes, I hold the title of The Wolf King. Yes, that does make me a very old, very powerful being; I won it though blood and death. And yes, that means that people do as I say. But that isn't all I am. I was going to wait to tell you so it didn't color your perception of me. As I've said before, I've won the right to have you, but I want to win _you_."

Kagome was quiet for a moment, just staring at him as if he were a particularly interesting bug, before linking arms with him to force him to continue walking with her, much to his surprise. "How the hell do you have time to be a king and the owner of a construction company at the same time? Both seem like pretty mutually exclusive positions, and pretty time consuming."

He blinked down at her, before a smile curled up his lips, the dark atmosphere of moments earlier casually wiped away with her unspoken acceptance. "Well, a few years ago I sort of... stepped back. King had become all I was, my days filled with correcting everyone else's problems, and none of my own. So I told the alphas of each pack, besides my own, of course, that it was time for them to stand on their own two feet for a bit; their affairs their own unless its something that is more than just them; I was going to just be me for a bit."

"Was it hard to give up that much power?" she asked curiously, feeling the pounding beat of the music from somewhere in the distance, reverberating though her feet, telling her they where nearing their destination. "I mean, I know Youkai Alphas are natural born leaders; it's in your blood to be dominant."

"Oh I didn't give it up; I'm still the leader of all Japan's wolves; they answer to me and no other. I'm just not dealing with their petty bullshit." he told her, weaving though the dense crowd with ease as they approached.

"So you just forced their independence then?"

He nodded as he spun her out onto the dance floor that had been erected, the sound of traditional drums filling the air and thumming though everything. "I'm their leader, not their parent."

The powerful beat forced her into motion, following the lead of the crowd that was spinning and twirling in large circles, their Youki pounding in time with the music, and rolling over her skin in a deliciously dangerous mocking of the drums. Rising up to swirl together before her.

"Stop masking your purity." he whispered as he spun her around him, arms locking around her back as his energy rubbed against her. He felt like playing with fire again. "I want to feel it nipping at my flesh. Let them see it, let them see what a dangerous creature I hold in my arms."

So she did, unwinding her tightly coiled restraint until she too was throbbing in time with the beat. It felt dangerous. Risky. But mostly freeing.

The other dancers picked up the change instantly, testing her with timid brushes of power, but never more than the slightest flare. Never crossing the line of curtsey.

And it was so strange, being around so many people who recognized her for the Reiki user she was. Who acknowledged the power she held rather than merely giving a nod to it. It was intoxicating.

The dance itself was innocent, the participants a chaste distant apart, only coming into contact with their partner for a twisting spin. But their auras told a different story, and that was a much more sensual dance.

"Do you feel their eyes on you? Do you know how much it pleases me to know that they want what I have?" he whispered upon a passing.

"You keep forgetting you haven't won me yet." she replied, breathless with exertion and excitement.

"But I will."

His self assurance made her laugh, his doubtless determination and faith in his ability to claim her amusing her to no end. And at least for now she would allow that amusement, quelling the urge to snap at him that she made her own choices. "You'll no doubt try." she acknowledged.

"I'll succeed." he promised as he swept her into his arms and off the platform, leading her deftly away from the throngs of people. "But it will have to wait for another day; the moon is high and the wolf run is no place for a mortal. Its time for me to return you to your home."

It was only then that Kagome realized that twilight faded to dusk, and dusk into the impenetrable night. "How late is it?"

"Early."

She snorted as he led her toward the end of the festival grounds where the car was once again waiting for them, helping her inside. "That's not a real answer."

"It was a question that didn't need one; you need to go to bed as soon as you've removed yourself from this delightful kimono."

"I'd like to see you make me." she replied petulantly, the stillness of being seated making her suddenly feel more tired than she had in ages, but with an unwillingness to admit it.

"I could always accompany you inside to help you with its removal, if only to ensure you dream of me." He told her with a leer.

Kagome had made some sort of noise of denial, but it was lost in the haze of sleepiness that had overtaken her with the stillness.

She didn't remember the drive home. Or the walk to the house. Or even making it to her room.

When she awoke the next morning in her favorite pajamas, the only thing she could really recall was the sound of Kouga's voice as her murmured something to her that was too low and rumbling to make out, and that her pillow smelled like him.


End file.
